Super Smash Bros. Melee (GameCube) review

"Super Smash Brothers Melee is in no way the perfect game in my mind. It is a great game, do not get me wrong, but I do not find it near as good as its predeccesor which changed the fighting genre in itself. However this one shows some weaknesses not apparent in the original, however many improvements.
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Super Smash Brothers Melee is in no way the perfect game in my mind. It is a great game, do not get me wrong, but I do not find it near as good as its predeccesor which changed the fighting genre in itself. However this one shows some weaknesses not apparent in the original, however many improvements.

STORY (0/5): As with most fighting games a story plays a minor role. In truth I would like this improved upon, and I thought that maybe Super Smash Brothers Melee would do that. It did not, but neither has any other fighting game, so this doesn't hurt the game too much.

GRAPHICS (18/20): These are very crisp graphics for a game released very early on in a systems life, and there is no slowdown on the game or loading time. This does show how much those little DVD's can hold. The graphics of SSBM are fitting, and each character has many different views and sights, along with each course. However the course backgrounds could be more detailed (Besides the two metroid ones, cause they are spectacular) and maybe make the characters a little more crisped and more facial expressions.

SOUND (10/10): As much as I want to shoot this down a whole point for that horrendous DK Rap, it gives variety to the sound system. I love the classic music present in this game, especially the iceclimber classic music you get once in a great while, and the metroid. The sound effects are there, along with voices from the taunts (I love that Jigglypuff taunt). The sound is possibly the best for any non-RPG game.

GAMEPLAY (39/40): The gameplay of SSBM is definitely far above par, and it is entertaining for a long time. However my first complaint has to be the character clones. I am not to fond of being beat up by my own move from a guy who goes ten times slower (Stupid Ganondorf). I would have preffered if they spent the time to give them original moves. Also the stages are a little too interactive on this game, not like the original SSB where they would only interact now and then. This is most apparent in the IceClimber stage which gets annoying very fast, for you are jumping up and down from the stage killing you, instead of fighting. Also with the increase of gameplay variety, it still is not as fun as the original classic mode... However I give them credit for adding in so much to this game, and trying to improve upon the original, although like many movies the predessecor is better than the sequel.

MULTIPLAYER (8/10): The first SSB me and my friends would play for hours on end with battle after battle. The sequel looked to be even more fun with stat tracking, and the tournament mode. For some reason this is not so. We play more of Bloody Roar then we do of SSBM, and that is one of the weaknesses to this game. This game has great Multiplayer potential, and if you get into it could be alot of fun. However it is very easy to dominate it if one person owns the game, and the rest only play it when they are at your house.

REPLAYABILITY (10/10): Almost 300 trophies to collect!!! That is alot of replay value right there, and yet there is even more. There are multiple players to earn and many stages. These are not near as easy as the first SSB extras, and you will be trying for a long time to get them all. I am still playing this game, for I only have 263 trophies, so I do have to admit this game has perfect replayability.

DIFFICULTY (4/5): The difficulty of this game is varied extremely well. However the computer is not too consistant for some times normal is as easy as very easy or as difficult as hard. Also the computer specializes with people like Captain Falcon and is weak with rats like Pikachu. But the difficulty is varied, so I can't shoot this game down to far because of it.

OVERALL (89/100): Not a bad score at all for a nintendo fighter, but it is significantly less than others give it. I was not as impressed with this game as others are, and I expected alot more from it. However out of all my Gamecube games I do play this the most, so there must be something done right in this game, so it deserves it's 88. Far above par, but yet not the hole in one either.

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